Copter trusts trial begins

The trial of four men accused of defrauding two rescue helicopter trusts begins in the High Court at Auckland today.

The men are charged with conspiracy to defraud the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and its sister organisation, the New Zealand ChildFlight Trust, by misdirecting donated poker machine takings back to a group of Auckland pubs.

The four are Mt Wellington company director Malcolm Beattie, Waimauku company director Wayne Porter, Takapuna financial officer Stewart Thomas Romley and Remuera hotelier Peter John Pharo.

Beattie was chairman of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust for 15 years. Porter was deputy chairman and Romley the finance director.

All three were founding board members of ChildFlight Trust.

Porter and Pharo had interests in the five pubs concerned.

The trial follows a Serious Fraud Office investigation begun in 2002.The SFO maintains that the helicopter trusts returned about half the money to the five pubs (The Birdcage, Palace Tavern, Strand Tavern, Cazino Bar and Goldies Casino) "purportedly for costs of advertising when such costs were unauthorised".